That
afternoon Joseph Poorgrass was bringing Fanny's coffin back from
Casterbridge. Feeling a little frightened of the dead body behind him in the
cart，and de-pressed by the autumn fog，he stopped for some beer at a pub，where
he met Jan Coggan and Laban Tall. There Gabriel Oak found the three men，completely
drunk，two hours later. As Joseph was clearly incapable of driving the cart，Gabriel
drove it to Weatherbury himself. On the way into the village，the vicar stopped
him.

‘I'm
afraid it's
too late now for the burial，’he said，‘but I can arrange for the body to be
buried tomorrow. ’

‘I could take the coffin to the church for the night，sir，’offered
Gabriel，hoping to prevent Bathsheba from seeing it.

But
just then Bathsheba herself appeared. ‘No，Gabriel，’she said. ‘Poor Fanny must
rest in her old home for her last night. Bring the coffin into the house. ’

The
coffin was carried into a small sitting-room and Gabriel was left alone with
it. In spite of all his care，the worst had happened，and Bathsheba was about to
make a terrible discovery. But suddenly he had an idea. He looked at the words
written simply on the coffin lid—Fanny Robin and child. With a cloth Gabriel
carefully removed the last two words. Quietly he left the room.

Bathsheba
was in a strange mood. She felt lonely and miser-able，but she had not stopped
loving her husband，in spite of her anxiety about his past. She was waiting for
him to come home，when Liddy knocked and entered.

‘Ma'am，Maryann
has just heard something…’she hesitated a little. ‘Not about you or us，ma'am. About Fanny.
There's
a story in Weatherbury that…’Liddy whis-pered in her mistress's ear.

Bathsheba
trembled from head to foot.

‘I don't
believe it！’she cried. ‘There's
only one name on the coffin lid！But I suppose it could be true. ’

She
said no more，and Liddy went quietly out of the room. Bathsheba felt almost sure
she knew the truth about Fanny and Troy，but she wanted to be certain. She
entered the sitting-room where the coffin lay. Holding her hot hands to her
fore-head she cried，‘Tell me your secret，Fanny！I hope it isn't true there are
two of you！If I could only look. at you，I'd know！’

After
a pause，she added slowly，‘And I will. ’

A
few moments later，she stood beside the uncovered coffin. Staring in，she said，‘It
was best to know the worst，and I know it now！’Her tears fell fast beside the
dead pair in the coffin，tears for Fanny and for herself. Although Bathsheba，not
Fanny，had married Troy，in death Fanny was the winner. She was taking her
revenge now on Bathsheba for the difficulties she had experienced in her life.

Bathsheba
forgot the passing of time as she looked at Fanny's cold white face and
yellow hair，and did not realize Troy had arrived home. He threw open the door
and came in. He did not guess who was in the coffin.

‘What's
the matter？Who's
dead？’he asked.

Bathsheba
tried to push past him. ‘Let me out！’she cried.

‘No，stay，I insist！’He held her arm and together they looked into the
coffin.

Troy
stood completely still when he saw the mother and ba-by. Little by little his
shoulders bent forward，and his face showed deep sadness. Bathsheba was watching
his expression closely，and she had never been more miserable. Slowly Troy knelt
to give Fanny Robin a gentle kiss.

Bathsheba
threw her arms round his neck，crying wildly from the depths of her heart，‘Don't，don't kiss them！Oh
Frank，no！I love you better than she did！Kiss me too，Frank！You will kiss me too，Frank！’

Troy
looked puzzled for a moment，not expecting this child-like cry from his proud
wife. But then he pushed her away.

‘I will not kiss you！’he said.

‘Can you give me a reason？’asked Bathsheba，fighting to control
herself. Perhaps it was unfortunate that she asked.

‘I've
been a bad，black-hearted man，but this woman，dead as she is，is more to me than
you ever were，or are，or can be. I would have married her，if I'd never seen
your beau-tiful face！And I wish I had married her！’He turned to Fanny. ‘But
never mind，darling，’he said，‘in the sight of God you are my wife！’

At
these words a long，low cry of despair and anger came from Bathsheba's lips. ‘If she's—that，what—am I？’

‘You are nothing to me，nothing，’said Troy heartlessly. ‘A ceremony in
front of a vicar doesn't
make a marriage. I don't
consider myself your husband. ’

Bathsheba
wanted only to get away from him and his words. She ran straight out of the
house. She stayed out all night，wrapped in a cloak，waiting for the coffin to be
taken for burial. As soon as the men had taken it away the next morning，she
re-entered the house，very cautiously to avoid Troy，but her husband had gone out
very early and did not return.